Rotary ejector electrode holder



Jan. 30, 1945. H. KRulTBoscH ROTARY EJECTOR ELECTRODE HOLDER Filed Jan.4, 1944 w f y H Patented Jan. 30, 1945 ROTARY EJEc'roR ELEc'rRonE HOLDERHarold Kruitbosch, Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to The ElectroloyCompany, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of ConnecticutApplication January 4, 1944, Serial No. 516,909

4 Claims.

This invention relates to electrode holders for spot welding. Theseelectrodes ordinarily comprise a hollow body and a removable tip fittinginto the body with a taper iit, the hollow body containing means forfeeding a cooling fluid down to the tip. In actual use these tips aresubjected to considerable pressure which forces the tip into its socketso hard as to make removal very difficult.

It is an object of this invention to provide an electrode holder of thecharacter described, from which the tip may be readily removed whendesired without damage to the tip, by a rotary motion of the lowerportion of the holder, and a new tip may be inserted and held after amere reverse rotary movement.

It is a :further object to provide an electrode holder which will ejectthe tip without injury,

but which nevertheless will be proof against leakage when in use.

It is a further object to provide a device of the character describedwhich will be both rugged and durable, and which will render excellentservice throughout its entire life.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacturepossessingthe features, properties and the relation of elements which will beexemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scopeof theapplication of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in

which:

Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal section through the device with the tipin place.

Fig. 2 is a similar section of the lower portion of the device with thetip ejected.

In the drawing the numeral 9 designates the body oi a holder embodyingthis invention, having a screw thread ID by which it is adapted to beattached to a nipple Il held into a head I2 by a union I3. This head isprovided with inlet I4 and outlet I5 for cooling iiuid, the former beingconnected to an internal tube I6 which extends down to the bottom oftheholder and preferably into the tip. At the lower end of the holder 9 andforming a part thereof is a rotary member I'I which is rotatable upon4the body. This rotary member I1 has at its lower end a taper socket I8,in which is fitted the tapered end of the welding tip I9.

In accordance with this invention there is provided a member within thebody of the holder which, when therotary member Il is turned on the bodymember, will engage the upper end of the tip I9 and eject the latter.Any member within the body which accomplishes this'purpose comes withinthe broad purview oi this invention. For example, when the rotatablemember I1 is-screw-threaded to the body member 9, the endwise motion ofthe rotatable member toward the body of the holder can be made to causethe end of the tip to strike against the end of the cooling uid tube I6.Such construction would mean that the tip would be ejected by screwingthe rotatable member onto the body. This, however, would make itdifficult to provide a watertight joint between the body 9 and therotatable member I'I to contain the cooling fluid while in use.

In the preferred construction, therefore, a separate sliding member isprovided; thus within the body portion, and movable endwise thereinrelative to the member I'I, is a sleeve 20 which is forced endwise byrotation of the member I1. To accomplish this result, the sleeve 20 isscrewthreaded into one of the members 9 or Il, and is articulated to theother in a manner to cause it to move out of the rotary member whenthose members are,l relatively turned.

The upper end of the tip I9 is in position to be contacted by the sleeve20 at the lower end of the travel of the latter. The eiect of thisconstruction is that as the member I'I is rotated, the sleeve 20 isforced down against the upper end of the tip I9, and the latter isforced out of its taper so that it can be easily removed without theneed of injuring its surface with a wrench or pliers to dislodge it.

In the practical form of the invention herein disclosed, the rotatablemember I1 is screwthreaded to the body 9, as shown at 2I. Thissimplifies access to the interior parts if this should be required, andat the same time it facilitates packing the connection between themembers 9 and II against the leakage of the cooling fluid. This packingcan be accomplished, if desired, merely by providing a gasket material22 between the end of the body 9 and a shoulder 23 on the interior ofthe member I'I, so that when the member I1 is screwed up to itsuppermost position, the joint will be made uid-tight by the gasket.

The screw thread that moves the sleeve will then be such that as themember I1 is screwed off of the body 9, the same rotary movement willmove the sleeve 20 to dislodge the tip I9. This is accomplished in themanner shown by keying the sleeve 20 to the body 9 by means oi a slidingkey 23 on the sleeve fitting into 'a keyway 24 in the body, 2l betweenthe sleeve and the member I1. Thus, as the member I1 is screwed oi! ofthe body 8. the sleeve I1 will be forced against the tip to eject thelatter.

When the rotary member is screw-threaded onto the body, I prefer theconstruction Shown rather than to connect the sleeve with the body by ascrew thread and connect it to the rotatable member by the key, since inthe latter case it would be necessary to make the pitch of the threadbetween the sleeve and the body much steeper than the thread between therotatable member and the body, so that the sleeve will move endwisefaster than the rotatable member. Such a steep Ditch of screw isinherently less etiicient.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to 4be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to i'all therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A welding electrode including a hollow body, a member rotatable uponsaid body having a tapered socket to receive a tip, a stem carried bythe body portion and movable against the tip to and by providing aleft-hand thread' ascenso eject the same, and connections between saidstem and said rotatable member including a screw thread constructed andarranged to move said stem to eject a tip on rotation of the rotatablemember. i

2. A welding electrode holder comprising a hollow body member, a memberrotatable thereon having a tapered socket adapted to receive a tip, asleeve movable endwise within said body to eject said tip, connectionsbetween said sleeve and said body member, and between said sleeve andsaid rotatable member, at least one of said connections including ascrew thread, said connections being constructed and arranged to causesaid sleeve to move to eject the tip when said rotata-ble member isrotated.

3. A welding` electrode holder comprising a hollow body member, a memberrotatable thereon having a tapered socket adapted to receive a tip, asleeve movable endwise within said body to eject said tip, a screwconnection between said sleeve and said rotatable member, and a keywaybetween said sleeve and said body whereby a rotation of said rotatablemember on said body will screw said sleeve in said thread and move thesame relative to the rotatable member.

4. A welding electrode holder comprising a hollow body member,La.,f:rotatable member threaded thereon having a tapered socket adaptedto receive a tip, a sleeve movable endwise within said body to ejectsaid tip, a screw connection between said rotatable member and saidsleeve of opposite pitch to the thread lbetween the rotatable member andthe body, and a key connection between the said sleeve and said bodymember, whereby unscrewing said rotatable member from said body willeject the tip from the socket.

' HAROLD KRUITBOSCH.

